THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary-August 7, 2017- Topic 1
Vice-President Naidu and BJP's long-term plans
As Vice-President, M.
Venkaiah Naidu brings to the office his long years of experience as
Parliamentary Affairs Minister, built on an amiable personality that has won
him friends cutting across party divides. His election was no surprise given
the numbers in Parliament, and the contest was something of a non-starter
despite Gopalkrishna Gandhi’s attempt to portray it as an ideological face-off.
That Mr. Naidu did not give much room for raising the profile of the battle for
the office of the Vice-President is reflective of his tact and temperament,
qualities that will stand him in good stead in his primary job as the Chairman
of the Rajya Sabha. He can be expected to take on the ceremonial and diplomatic
duties of the Vice-President, which are akin to those of the President, with
minimum fuss. The Bharatiya Janata Party zeroed in on him for more than one
reason. He is the most prominent face of the BJP in the south, having
previously served as the national president of the party. Although Karnataka,
and not his home State of Andhra Pradesh, is the first and only State in the
south to vote the BJP to power, Mr. Naidu was in many ways the symbol of the
party’s foray into the south.
Left to himself, Mr. Naidu
would probably have chosen to continue in active politics, and not take on this
constitutional post. He was the BJP’s go-to person for making allies in the south.
He developed a good equation with K. Chandrasekhar Rao in Telangana, N.
Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra Pradesh and Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu. By all
accounts, Mr. Naidu relished his political role in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
as much as his ministerial role at the Centre. But given the BJP’s new-found
majority in the Lok Sabha, and its ambitious plan to expand its own base in the
south beyond Karnataka, party president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra
Modi may have felt less need for Mr. Naidu’s ally-making abilities. But, even
if the BJP leadership does not miss him in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Mr.
Modi will still have a hole to fill in his Cabinet. Some of the senior
ministers such as Arun Jaitley hold more than one important portfolio, and losing
another senior hand will surely have an effect on the representativeness and
balance of the Council of Ministers. Already Mr. Modi has lost the services of
Manohar Parrikar, who moved to Goa as Chief Minister after relinquishing his
job as Defence Minister. As for Mr. Naidu, he could well be the BJP’s choice
for the next President. The Shah-Modi team is known for making long-term plans,
and it cannot be ruled out that they made the choice with an eye on Rashtrapati
Bhavan in 2022.
Vocabulary
Amiable: having or displaying a
friendly and pleasant manner.
Example: An amiable, unassuming
fellow
Synonyms: friendly, affable, amicable, cordial, warm, warmhearted, good-natured
Portray: depict (someone or
something) in a work of art or literature.
Example: The author wanted to portray
a new type of hero
Synonyms: paint, draw, sketch, picture, depict, represent, illustrate
Reflective: providing a
reflection; capable of reflecting light or other radiation.
Example: Reflective glass
Ceremonial: relating to or used
for formal events of a religious or public nature.
Example: Ceremonial robes
Fuss: show unnecessary or
excessive concern about something.
Example: She's always fussing about
her food
Synonyms: worry about, fret
about, be anxious about, be agitated about
Relished: enjoy greatly.
Example: He was relishing his moment
of glory
Synonyms: enjoy, delight
in, love, adore, take pleasure in, rejoice in
Ambitious: having or showing a
strong desire and determination to succeed.
Example: His mother was hard-working
and ambitious for her four children
Synonyms: aspiring, determined, forceful, pushy, enterprising
Portfolio: a range of investments
held by a person or organization.
Example: Better returns on its
investment portfolio
Synonyms: investments, holdings, funds
